6. Stewart Downing To Liverpool (£20 Million)
Media Image LtdDowning is another of those annoying players who flattered to deceive for a relatively short amount of time, before being sussed out and hardly having any impact. As a young, keen left winger, Downing stood out at Middlesbrough - but, then again, any naturally left-footed players in this county immediately stand out due to the fact that there is a distinct lack of them - and, as such, he was soon called up to the England team as the answer to our long-standing left wing prayers. Or so we thought. Downing's impact at international level was a return of zero goals in 34 appearances and a string of extremely average performances, but that didn't put Aston Villa off paying
£12 million for his services and, even more bafflingly, Liverpool paying
£20 million for them two years later. He had the remarkable feats at Anfield of being the first player in seven years to miss three penalty kicks in a row and going a full season with no goals and no assists. The Middlesbrough-born man - who now plays at West Ham United - is only 29, but his last game for England came more than two years ago in May 2012. He is the prime example of someone who peaked, was hyped, then spiralled in to insignificance - and a typical English waste of money to boot.